Proactive reduction of bit rate of streaming media en route to UE in response to prediction that UE will experience reduced-throughput coverage

ABSTRACT

A method and system for proactively reconfiguring communication to a user equipment device (UE) in anticipation the UE experiencing a coverage-throughput reduction when the UE is receiving streaming media. An example method includes (i) predicting, when the UE is receiving streaming media from a media server, that the UE is going to experience the coverage-throughput reduction and (ii) based at least in part on the predicting, proactively initiating transcoding of the streaming media to reduce a bit rate of the streaming media en route to the UE in a communication path between the media server and the UE, the initiating occurring before the UE experiences the coverage-throughput reduction so that the bit rate of the streaming media is reduced by when the UE experiences the coverage-throughput reduction.

BACKGROUND

A cellular wireless network typically includes a number of access nodesthat are configured to provide wireless coverage areas, such as cellsand cell sectors, in which user equipment devices (UEs) such as cellphones, tablet computers, machine-type-communication devices, trackingdevices, embedded wireless modules, and/or other wirelessly equippedcommunication devices (whether or not user operated), can operate. Eachaccess node could be coupled with a core network that may provideconnectivity with various application servers and/or transport networks,such as the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and/or the Internetfor instance. With this arrangement, a UE within coverage of thecellular network could engage in air interface communication with anaccess node and may thereby communicate via the access node with variousapplication servers and/or other entities.

Such a network could operate in accordance with a particular radioaccess technology (RAT), with communications from the access nodes toUEs defining a downlink or forward link and communications from the UEsto the access nodes defining an uplink or reverse link.

Over the years, the industry has developed various generations of radioaccess technologies, in a continuous effort to increase available datarate and quality of service. These generations have ranged from “1G,”which used simple analog frequency modulation to facilitate basicvoice-call service, to “4G”—such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), which nowfacilitates mobile broadband service using technologies such asorthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) and multiple inputmultiple output (MIMO). And more recently, the industry has beenexploring developments in “5G” and particularly “5G NR” (5G New Radio),which may use a scalable OFDM air interface, advanced channel coding,massive MIMO, beamforming, and/or other features, to support higher datarates and countless applications, such as mission-critical services,enhanced mobile broadband, and massive Internet of Things (IoT).

In accordance with the RAT, each coverage area could operate on one ormore radio-frequency (RF) carriers, each of which could be frequencydivision duplex (FDD), defining separate frequency channels for downlinkand uplink communication, or time division duplex (TDD), with a singlefrequency channel multiplexed over time between downlink and uplink use.Each such frequency channel could have a respective bandwidth centeredon a respective center frequency, defining a respective range offrequency extending from a low-end frequency to a high-end frequency.

Further, on the downlink and uplink respectively, the air interfacedefined by each carrier under an example RAT could be structured overtime and frequency to define physical air-interface resources forcarrying information between the access node and UEs.

Without limitation for instance, the air interface could be divided overtime into frames, which can be divided in turn into subframes,timeslots, and symbol time-segments. And the carrier bandwidth(frequency width of the carrier on the downlink and/or uplink) could bedivided over frequency into subcarriers. As a result, the air interfacecould define an array of resource elements per subframe, each occupyinga respective subcarrier and spanning a respective symbol time segment,and the subcarrier of each such resource element could be modulatedusing an applicable modulation scheme to carry data over the air.Further, the air interface could be configured to group these resourceelements into physical resource blocks (PRBs) across the carrierbandwidth, and the access node could be configured to allocate thesePRBs for use to carry data on an as-needed basis.

Overview

When a UE enters into coverage of such a network, the UE could initiallyscan for and detect threshold strong coverage of an access node on acarrier, and the UE could responsively engage in random-access andconnection signaling, such as Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling,with the access node to establish a connection between the UE and theaccess node. Further, if appropriate, the UE could engage in attachsignaling via the access node with a core-network controller to attachand thus register for service. And upon initial attachment and/or laterduring service of the UE, the core-network controller could coordinatesetup for the UE of one or more bearers each defining a packet tunnelfor carrying packet-data communications between the UE and acore-network gateway system that provides connectivity with a transportnetwork. Further, the gateway system or another entity could assign tothe UE an Internet Protocol (IP) address for use by the UE to engage incommunication on the transport network.

Each bearer that is established for the UE could have a portion thatextends within the core network between the UE's serving access node andthe gateway system and a portion that extends over the air between theaccess node and the UE. Further, each such bearer could have acorresponding, defined quality-of-service (QoS) service level, whichcould be indicated by one or more bearer attributes stored in contextrecords for the UE at entities along the bearer path, such as at the UE,the access node, and the gateway system. For instance, each bearer couldbe associated with a particular QoS Class Identifier (QCI) and/orDifferential Services Point Code (DSCP) value that defines various QoSattributes of the bearer, such as packet-delay budget, acceptablepacket-loss rate, minimum or maximum bit rate, and the like. Entitiesalong the bearer communication path could then work to handlecommunications on the bearer accordingly.

Once the UE is so connected and registered, the access node could thenserve the UE in a connected mode on the carrier, managing downlinkair-interface communication of packet data to the UE and uplinkair-interface communication of packet data from the UE.

For instance, when an application server or other entity on thetransport network transmits data to the IP address of the UE, that datacould be routed to the core-network gateway system and could then flowover one of the UE's bearers from the gateway system to the UE. When theaccess node receives such data for transmission to the UE, the accessnode could buffer the data pending transmission. And with the exampleair-interface configuration as described above, the access node couldthen schedule and provide transmission of the buffered data to the UE indownlink PRBs of upcoming subframes. For instance, the access node couldapply a scheduling algorithm to allocate upcoming downlink PRBs to carrythe data to the UE. And the access node could transmit to the UE one ormore scheduling directives, such as a Downlink Control Information (DCI)messages, designating the PRBs and could transmit data to the UE inthose PRBs. In responsive to these scheduling directives, the UE couldthus receive the data carried in the designated PRBs.

Likewise, when the UE has data to transmit to the IP address of anapplication or other entity on the transport network, that data couldflow over one of the UE's bearers to the gateway system, which couldroute the data on the transport network to the IP address. Inparticular, the UE could buffer the data pending transmission to theaccess node and could transmit to the access node a scheduling requestthat carries with it a buffer status report (BSR) indicating how muchdata the UE has buffered for transmission. And with the exampleair-interface configuration as described above, the access node couldthen schedule transmission of the buffered data in uplink PRBs ofupcoming subframes, transmitting to the UE one or more schedulingdirectives designating those PRBs, and the UE could transmit the data tothe access node in those PRBs. The data could then flow from the accessnode to the gateway system, for routing to its destination IP address.

When an access node serves a UE on a carrier, the UE's peak data rate ofcommunication could be defined based on the frequency bandwidth of thecarrier and based on the UE's coverage quality. For instance, with anair interface configured as described above, the frequency bandwidth ofthe carrier defines a limited number of PRBs per subframe, which theaccess node may sometimes need to fairly allocate among multiple servedUEs. Further, the per-PRB bit rate of communication could depend on theUE's channel quality, with higher channel quality correlating withhigher per-PRB bit rate (e.g., with use of a higher-order modulation andcoding scheme (MCS) for air-interface transmission, and/or with a lowerretransmission rate) and lower channel quality correlating with lowerper-PRB bit rate (e.g., with use of a lower-order MCS and/or with ahigher retransmission rate.)

One way to help increase the UE's peak data rate is for the access nodeto serve the UE concurrently on multiple carriers. For instance, ifsupported, the access node could configure carrier-aggregation servicefor the UE, by adding one or more secondary carriers to the UE'sconnection and then serving the UE on the combination of multiplecarriers. Here, the carrier on which the UE initially connected could beconsidered the UE's primary component carrier and the anchor for theUE's connection, while each other carrier could be considered asecondary component carrier of the UE's connection. Carrier-aggregationcan help to provide the UE with increased peak-data rate compared withservice on a single carrier, by increasing the aggregate frequencybandwidth and associated quantity of PRBs available for use to carrydata between the access node and the UE.

Another way to help increase UE's peak data rate is to implementdual-connectivity, with the UE being served concurrently on multipleconnections, perhaps each according to a different respective RAT. Forinstance, if supported, once the UE is connected with and served by afirst access node on one or more carriers according to a first RAT, thefirst access node, operating as a master node (MN) or anchor node, mightinterwork with a second access node, as secondary node (SN), toestablish for the UE a secondary connection with the second access nodeon one or more carriers according to a second RAT and might engage insignaling to establish a split bearer so that the first and secondaccess nodes could then concurrently serve the UE on their respectiveconnections with the UE. Such dual-connectivity or “non-standaloneconnectivity” (NSA) service can help to provide the UE with increasedpeak data rate compared with standalone (SA) service on a singleconnection, by similarly increasing the aggregate frequency bandwidthand associated quantity of PRBs available for use to carry data to/fromthe UE.

When a UE is connected with and served by an access node, the UE mayalso regularly monitor its coverage from that access node and availablecoverage from neighboring access nodes, to help ensure that the UE isserved with the best available coverage. The UE could conduct thisevaluation primarily with respect to the UE's anchor serving node ifdual-connected and with respect to its primary component carrier ifserved with carrier aggregation. And if and when the UE determines thata handover condition is met for the UE to hand over to a neighboringaccess node, the UE could then signal to its serving access node, andthe serving access node could coordinate handover of the UE to theneighboring access node.

In addition, when a UE is connected and served, one type of thecommunication that the UE may support engaging in is real-time mediastreaming—namely, receipt and playout of real-time streaming media, suchas video streaming or audio streaming for instance. In a representativescenario, the UE might engage in packet-based control signaling with amedia server on a transport network. to establish a streaming mediasession through which the server would stream media content to the UE inreal-time for playout. This process could involve the UE buffering andplaying out the media content as the UE receives it, rather than waitingto receive the entirety of a media file before initiating playback.Streaming media sessions could be conducted using any of variousstandard protocols, such as Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) andReal-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) or Hypertext Transfer Protocol(HTTP), among other possibilities.

When a UE engages in a streaming-media session, transmission of mediacontent to the UE could be handled in largely the manner discussedabove. Namely, as the media server transmits to UE data that representsthat media, the data could be routed to the core-network gateway systemand from the gateway system to the UE's serving access node(s), and theaccess node(s) could buffer the data pending transmission and, whenpossible, schedule and provide transmission of the data over the air tothe UE.

An example streaming media process could involve adaptive bit-ratestreaming, in which the media server dynamically varies the bit rate ofthe media content that it is streaming to the UE, taking intoconsideration the quality and/or data-rate supported by the UE'swireless connection(s).

By way of example, the media server could have multiple stored versionsof the media content, each being encoded at a different respective bitrate that defines the number of bits per unit time used to represent themedia content. A higher bit rate version of the media content might be ahigher resolution representation of the media content or may provideadditional features, information, or the like related to the mediacontent. With an example of adaptive bit-rate streaming, the mediaserver could dynamically switch between various ones of these versionsto stream to the UE, with the selection being based on throughput (bitrate) supported by the UE's connection(s), which could be based in turnon the frequency bandwidth of the UE's connection(s) and/or on one ormore other factors (e.g., load, actual throughput observed, historicaldata, etc.)

For instance, to facilitate the streaming media session, the UE mayobtain from the media server a manifest file that indicates the variousavailable versions of the media content. And the UE could signal to themedia server at the start of the session and from time to timethroughout the session, to request streaming of one of those versionsthat the UE selects based on the frequency bandwidth of the UE'sconnection and/or on other such factors. Thus, the UE might requeststreaming of a higher bit-rate version (e.g., higher resolution version)of the media content when the UE has higher-throughput connectivity, andthe UE might request streaming of a lower bit-rate version (e.g., lowerresolution version) of the media content when the UE haslower-throughput connectivity.

Alternatively, at the start of the session and/or from time to timethroughout the session, the UE and/or its serving core network mightsignal to the media server to inform the media server of the level ofthroughput supported by the UE's connectivity. And the media servermight dynamically select and switch between the various versions tostream to the UE, based on that indicated level of throughput support.

One technical problem that can arise in this or other such arrangementsis that, if the UE is served with a streaming media session in which themedia being streamed is encoded at a first bit rate and if the UE movesinto lower throughput coverage, the UE's serving access node(s) couldexperience difficulty in transmitting the incoming media content to theUE until the media server switches to a lower bit-rate version of themedia content. For instance, if the media stream is encoded at arelatively high bit rate selected based on the UE having relativelyhigh-throughput connectivity and if the UE then hands over to be servedby an access node over a relatively low-throughput connection, the UE'snew serving access node may be unable to transmit the incoming mediacontent quickly enough to the UE. As a result, the new access node mayexperience a buffer overrun, which might lead to dropped packets, delay,and assorted user experience issues.

The present disclosure provides several mechanisms to help resolve thisissue.

In a first aspect, the disclosure provides for predicting, while a UE isengaged in a streaming media session, that the UE will experience acoverage-throughput reduction and, based at least in part on predictingthat the UE will experience the coverage-throughput reduction whileengaged in the streaming media session and before the UE experiences thecoverage-throughput reduction, proactively increasing a QoS level of abearer on which the UE is receiving the streaming media. Proactivelyincreasing the QoS level of the bearer on which the UE is receiving thestreaming media could help facilitate successfully transmitting themedia content to the UE even when constrained by the reduced throughput.Namely, the higher QoS level could result in higher priorityair-interface transmission of the media content to the UE, which mighthelp to ensure timely and successful transmission of the media contentto the UE when there is a contention for limited air-interfaceresources.

And in a second aspect, the disclosure provides for predicting, while aUE is engaged in a streaming media session, that the UE will experiencea coverage-throughput reduction and, based at least in part onpredicting that the UE will experience the coverage-throughput reductionwhile engaged in the streaming media session and before the UEexperiences the coverage-throughput reduction, proactively transcodingto a lower bit rate the media content that is en route from the mediaserver to the UE. For instance, in this situation, a transcoder disposedwithin the core network in the UE's bearer communication path couldresponsively transcode the incoming media stream to a lower bit ratethat may be more easy to transmit to the UE with reduced-throughputconnectivity.

Either or both of these proactive actions could be taken justtemporarily. For example, either or both action could be taken for ashort period of time deemed by engineering design to be long enough tohelp address potential issues with air-interface transmission ofincoming media content to the UE when the UE encounters thereduced-throughput coverage. Alternatively or additionally, either orboth such action could be taken until the bit rate of the media astransmitted by the media server is reduced in view of the UE'sreduced-throughput coverage for instance.

These as well as other aspects, advantages, and alternatives will becomeapparent to those reading the following description, with referencewhere appropriate to the accompanying drawings. Further, it should beunderstood that the discussion in this overview and elsewhere in thisdocument is provided by way of example only and that numerous variationsare possible.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of an example network arrangementin which aspects of the present disclosure can be implemented.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart depicting an example method in accordance withthe disclosure.

FIG. 3 is another flow chart depicting an example method in accordancewith the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram of an example computing systemoperable in accordance with the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram of an example access node operablein accordance with the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An example implementation will now be described in the context of ascenario where a UE is engaged in a streaming media session while movingfrom being served with relatively high-throughput dual-connectivity tobeing served with lower-throughput standalone connectivity. Inparticular, the disclosure will address an example implementation wherea UE is engaged in a streaming media session while moving from beingserved by a cell site with a combination of 4G LTE and 5G NRconnections, as EUTRA-NR Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) to being served by acell site with just a 4G LTE connection.

It will be understood, however, that the disclosed principles couldextend to apply with respect to other scenarios as well, such as withrespect to other RATS and with respect to other scenarios where a UE'swireless throughput is likely to diminish while the UE is engaged in astreaming media session. Further, it should be understood that othervariations from the specific arrangements and processes described arepossible. For instance, various described entities, connections,functions, and other elements could be added, omitted, distributed,re-located, re-ordered, combined, or changed in other ways. In addition,it should be understood that operations described as being performed byone or more entities could be implemented in various ways, such as by aprocessor executing instructions stored in non-transitory data storage,along with associated circuitry or other hardware, among otherpossibilities.

FIG. 1 depicts an example network arrangement including two cell sites12, 14 that provide overlapping coverage so as to enable handover of aUE from one cell site to the other.

Cell site 12 is shown including a 4G access node (e.g., 4G evolvedNode-B (eNB)) 16 configured to provide 4G LTE service on at least onecarrier 18 and a 5G access node (e.g., 5G next-generation Node-B (gNB))20 that is configured to provide 5G NR service on at least one carrier22. These access nodes could be collocated with each other at the cellsite 12 (e.g., sharing a common antenna tower and other equipment) andcould provide coverage with similar direction and geographic scope aseach other, to enable the two access nodes to cooperatively provide UEswith dual-connectivity service. Cell site 14 is then shown includingjust a 4G access node (e.g., 4G eNB) 24, configured to provide 4G LTEservice on at least one carrier 26.

Each of these access nodes could take various forms. For instance, anaccess node could be a macro access node of the type that wouldtypically include a tower mounted antenna structure for providing abroad range of coverage. Or the access node could be a small cell accessnode, femtocell access node, or other type of access node that mighthave a smaller form factor with an antenna structure that provides anarrower range of coverage.

In an example, each of the carriers on which the access nodes provideservice could be TDD or FDD as noted above and could thus each have arespective frequency bandwidth at least for downlink communication.Further, the air interface provided by an access node on such a carriercould be configured as described above, to define an array of resourceelements grouped into PRBs across the frequency bandwidth. Althoughcarrier-structure and/or service on the 4G and 5G air-interfaces maydiffer from each other in various ways, such as with one implementingvariable subcarrier spacing and the other having fixed subcarrierspacing, with one having flexible TDD configuration and the other havingfixed TDD configuration, with one having different subcarrier spacingand/or symbol time segment length than the other, and/or with one makingdifferent use of MIMO technologies than the other, among otherpossibilities.

Each of the access nodes is shown interfaced with a core network 28. Thecore network 28 could be an evolved packet core (EPC) network, a nextgeneration core (NGC) network, or another network and could provideconnectivity with at least one transport network 30, such as theInternet. Further, the core network 28 could be a packet-switchednetwork, compliant with the industry standard system architectureevolution (SAE) or another protocol, and thus various entities thatcommunicate on the core network could each have an assigned InternetProtocol (IP) address and be configured to communicate with each otherover packet-based tunnels or other communication interfaces.

In the example shown, the core network 26 includes by way of example aserving gateway (SGW) 32, a packet data network gateway (PGW) 34, amobility management entity (MME) 36, a mobile location system (MLS) 38,and an element management system (EMS) 40.

With this arrangement, the SGW 32 and PGW 34 could support providinguser-plane connectivity for carrying bearer data between each accessnode and the transport network, so as to enable UEs served by the accessnodes to communicate on the transport network 30. And the MME 36 couldoperate as the core-network controller noted above, responsible forcoordinating setup of user-plane bearers for UEs served by the accessnodes. Further, the MLS 38 could be a computing-system platformconfigured to determine (e.g., track) geographic location of UEs usingtechniques such as trilateration, multilateration (e.g., observed timedifference of arrival (OTDOA)), satellite-based positioning, or thelike. And the EMS 40 could be a computing-system platform configured tooperate as a central repository of operational data for the wirelesscommunication network and to control and manage operation of variousnetwork elements.

FIG. 1 also illustrates an example media server 42 accessible throughthe transport network. This media server could include various front endinterfaces for communicating with streaming media clients, such as UEsserved by the various access nodes, to initiate and serve streamingmedia sessions to such clients. The streaming media sessions could takevarious forms. Without limitation, for instance, a representativestreaming media session could be a streaming video session, in which themedia server transmits a video stream (e.g., including video and audiocontent) to a client for real-time playout by the client. Further, asnoted above, the media server could be equipped to output this videostream at various bit rates (e.g., resolutions), and to vary the bitrate of streaming to a given client based on information related tothroughput supported by the client's network connection.

In addition, FIG. 1 illustrates an example UE 44 that is within coverageof and served by cell site 12 and is moving on a path such that the UEis likely to hand over from being served by cell site 14. In the exampleimplementation, this UE is configured to support engaging 4G service, 5Gservice, and EN-DC service. For instance, the UE could include both a 4Gradio and associated equipment and logic that enables the UE to connectwith and be served by a 4G eNB and a 5G radio and associated equipmentand logic that enables the UE to connect with and be served by a 5G gNB,and the UE could include logic that enables the UE to be servedconcurrently with 4G and 5G connectivity such with EN-DC.

In line with the discussion above, when the UE entered into coverage ofcell site 12, the UE may have discovered coverage of 4G eNB 16 on agiven 4G carrier 18 and may have engaged in random access and RRCsignaling to establish a 4G connection with the 4G eNB 16 on thatcarrier. Further, the UE may have engaged in attach signaling with theMME 36 through its 4G connection with the 4G eNB 16. And the MME 36 mayhave responsively coordinated setup for the UE of one or more user-planebearers to enable the UE to engage in communication on the transportnetwork 30.

As noted above, each such bearer could have an associated QoS levelindicated by a QCI value, a DSCP value, or the like. In an exampleimplementation, QCI values might range from a QCI 1 having a highest QoSlevel, as a dedicated bearer with a guaranteed bit rate and otherattributes appropriate for conversational voice traffic (e.g., voiceover IP (VoIP) calls) down to QCI 9 having a lowest QoS level, as anon-dedicated bearer with non-guaranteed bit rate and other attributessuitable for best-efforts service to accommodate general Internettraffic or the like.

In the arrangement of FIG. 1, the MME 36 may have initially establishedfor the UE a QCI 9 bearer. But other examples are possible as well.

The example bearer established for the UE could include a radio accessbearer (RAB) portion that is anchored at the 4G eNB 16 to facilitateuser-plane communication between the 4G eNB 16 and the UE andcore-network communication between the 4G eNB 16 and the SGW 32. Forinstance, the RAB could include an S1 user-plane (S1-U) packet tunnelextending between the 4G eNB 16 and the SGW 32 and a data radio bearer(DRB) packet tunnel extending over the air between the 4G eNB 16 and theUE. Further, the example bearer could include an S5 or S8 tunnel betweenthe SGW 32 and the PGW 34.

In practice to configure this bearer, the MME 32 could engage insignaling with the 4G eNB 16 and the SGW 32 to coordinate setup of theS1-U, to trigger signaling between the 4G eNB 16 and UE to set up theDRB, and to trigger signaling between the SGW 32 and the PGW 34 to setup the S5/S8 tunnel. And a Dynamic Host Control Protocol (DHCP) serverat or in communication with the PGW 34 could assign to the UE an IPaddress to enable the UE to communicate on the transport network 30 viathe UE's established bearer. Further, each entity along this bearercommunication path could establish and store a context record for theUE, which could uniquely identify the UE and could identify the bearerand its associated QoS attributes.

In an example implementation the 4G eNB 16 may also have configuredcarrier-aggregation service for the UE. Namely, the 4G eNB 16 may haveadded one or more secondary carriers 18 to the UE's 4G connection withthe 4G eNB 16, so as to provide wider aggregate frequency bandwidth onwhich to serve the UE.

Further, the 4G eNB 16 may also have coordinated setup for the UE ofEN-DC service. For instance, operating as MN for the UE, the 4G eNB 16may have engaged in control signaling with the 5G gNB 20 and the UE toset up for the UE a secondary 5G connection between the UE and the 5GgNB 20 on one or more of the 5G carriers 22. And the 4G eNB 16 may alsohave engaged in control signaling with the MME, with the 5G gNB 20, andwith the UE, to establish a split bearer that would enable the 4G eNB 16and 5G gNB 20 to cooperatively serve the UE.

Various split-bearer arrangements are possible. Without limitation, onesuch arrangement could involve the UE's S1-U tunnel being transferred tobe anchored at the 5G gNB 20, and the 5G gNB 20 splitting data arrivingon that tunnel to serve some of the data to the UE over the UE's 5Gconnection and to send other of the data over an inter-access-nodeinterface (e.g., X2 interface) to the 4G eNB 16 for the 4G eNB 16 toserve to the UE concurrently over the UE's 5G connection. To configurethis split bearer, for instance, the 4G eNB 16 could transmit to the MME36 a RAB-modification request that causes the MME 36 to coordinatetransfer of the UE's S1-U tunnel from being between the SGW 32 and the4G eNB 16 to instead being between the SGW 32 and the 5G gNB 20.Further, the 4G eNB 16 could engage signaling with the 5G gNB 20 and theUE to arrange for service of the UE with this split bearer.

Before or while the UE has EN-DC so configured, the UE may have furtherengaged in signaling with the media server 42 to initiate the streamingmedia session noted above. For instance, the UE may have engaged inpacket-based control signaling such as HTTP signaling and/or RTSPsignaling with the media server to cause the media server to startstreaming media content of the session to the UE, and the UE could beequipped with a streaming media player, which could receive the mediacontent being streamed and play out the media content in real-time on amedia-presentation interface, such as a display and/or sound-speaker.

In an example implementation as noted above, for example, the UE mayhave first obtained from the media server 42 a manifest file that listssegments of the media stream and indicates various bit rates availablefor the streaming. Based on a consideration of the potential downlinkthroughput of the UE's air-interface connection, the UE may haverequested the media server 42 to stream a particular bit-rate version ofthe media content, such as one that could likely work well given thethroughput potentially available to the UE. Further, if the UE'spotentially available throughput changes during the streaming mediasession, the UE may have requested the media server to switch tostreaming the media content at a different bit rate that could work wellwith the UE's new potentially available throughput. The media server maythus be streaming to the UE at the requested bit rate.

When the UE is served with EN-DC, the UE's potentially availablethroughput (e.g., peak data rate) may be particularly high, as the UE isbeing served concurrently over both the UE's 4G connection on one ormore 4G carriers and the UE's 5G connection on one or more 5G carriers.Further, this potentially available throughput may be especially high ifthe carriers on which the UE is served have particularly wide bandwidthwith associated high PRB capacity. The UE might determine the UE'spotentially available throughput by mapping from aggregate frequencybandwidth on which the UE is served. Further, the UE might consider oneor more other factors, such as the UE's actual throughput, coveragestrength, and/or broadcast load or other metrics.

As the media server streams media content to the UE at a particular bitrate, the media content could be routed as packet data through thetransport network 30 to the PGS 34 and could then flow over the UE'sexample bearer from the PGW 34 to the SGW 32, and, with the split bearernoted above, from the SGW 32 to the 5G gNB 20. The 5G gNB 20 could thenbuffer a portion of this data and could serve that portion of data tothe UE, scheduling and providing transmission of the data in PRBs on theUE's 5G connection. And the 5G gNB 20 could send a remainder of the datato the 4G eNB 16, which the 4G eNB 16 could buffer and serve to the UE,scheduling and providing transmission of the data in PRBs of the UE's 4Gconnection. The UE could thus concurrently receive these transmissionson the UE's two connections and could recombine the data as the packetdata, and the UE could de-packetize the media content and buffer andplay out the media content in real-time.

While the UE is engaged in this streaming media session, the UE may alsobe moving on a path along which the UE is likely to hand over from beingserved by cell site 12 to being served instead by cell site 14.

In an example implementation, as the UE moves along that path, the UEmay detect and report to 4G eNB 16 that the UE's coverage from 4G eNB 16is threshold weak and the UE's coverage from neighboring 4G eNB 24 isthreshold strong (e.g., threshold stronger than the UE's coverage from4G eNB 16.) In response, the 4G eNB 16 could then process a handover ofthe UE from cell site 12 to cell site 14. For instance, the 4G eNB 16could first engage in signaling to tear down the UE's EN-DC service,undoing the bearer split and having the MME 36 transfer the UE's S1-Utunnel back to be anchored at the 4G eNB 16, thus reverting the UE tostandalone 4G connectivity. Further, the 4G eNB 16 could engage inhandover signaling with the neighboring 4G eNB 24 to transfer the UEfrom being connected with the 4G eNB 16 to being connected instead withthe 4G eNB 24, which could involve coordinating configuration of a 4Gconnection on one or more of carriers 26 between the 4G eNB 24 and theUE and transferring the UE's S1-U tunnel to be anchored now at the 4GeNB 24.

This handover process would thus transition the UE from being servedwith the streaming media session through the UE's 4G and 5G connectionswith cell site 12 to the UE being served with the streaming mediasession through just the UE's 4G connection with cell site 14.

This handover process could result in a reduction of the UE'spotentially available throughput, at least because the UE transitionsfrom having dual-connectivity to having just standalone 4G connectivity.While various other factors may come into play in practice, we canassume that the peak data rate theoretically to the UE from cell site 14is less, and perhaps substantially less, than the peak data ratetheoretically available when the UE is served with EN-DC by cell site12.

As discussed above, this likely reduction on throughput available to theUE during the course of the UE's ongoing streaming media session couldcause problems. For instance, as noted above, as the media serverstreams the media content at a given bit rate that may have beenworkable with the UE's higher-throughput EN-DC connection, the UE'snewly serving 4G eNB 24 may be unable to transmit the incoming mediacontent quickly enough to the UE. Particularly if the 4G eNB 24 isserving other UEs at the same time and needs to fairly allocate PRBsamong all of its served UEs, and if the UE's bearer is a low-QoS QCI-9bearer as noted above, the 4G eNB 24 may not have the air-interfacecapacity available for use to transmit the incoming media-contentpackets to the UE in a timely manner. As a result, the 4G eNB 24 may endup dropping some of the incoming media-content packets and/or maytransmit them too late, in either case possibly causing user-experienceissues with playout of the media content at the UE.

As noted above, the present disclosure provides at least two mechanismsto help address this situation. Both mechanisms provide for detecting ascenario where a UE is engaged in a streaming media session and is goingto encounter reduced-throughput coverage, and, in response to detectingthe scenario, proactively taking action before the UE transitions to thereduced-throughput coverage, with the action helping to facilitatesuccessful transmission of the media content to the UE even when the UEthen transitions to the reduced-throughput coverage.

In particular, one mechanism provides for responsively increasing a QoSlevel of the bearer on which the UE is receiving streaming media of thesession, so that when the UE ultimately transitions to thereduced-throughput coverage, the higher QoS level of the UE's bearer mayhelp enable successful transmission of the media content to the UE. Andanother mechanism provides for responsively initiating transcoding ofthe media content to a lower bit rate as the media content is en routeto the UE as part of the streaming media session, so as to help enablesuccessful transmission of the media content to the UE when the UEtransitions to the reduced-throughput coverage.

These mechanisms could be carried out by various entities in a system asshown in FIG. 1 (such as by one or more core-network entities) or inanother such system and could involve operations of various entities inconcert. By way of example, one entity might be responsible fordetermining when the UE is engaged in a streaming media session, anotherentity might be responsible for determining when the UE is headed towardreduced-throughput coverage, and yet another entity might be responsiblefor integrating those two pieces of information based on UEidentification information or the like to determine that, while the UEis engaged in a streaming media session, the UE is headed towardreduced-throughput coverage. Still further, another entity might thenresponsively carry out (e.g., cause to be carried out) the adjustment ofQoS of the UE's bearer and/or the transcoding to a lower bit rate of themedia content en route to the UE. In an example implementation, forinstance, the EMS 40 could coordinate these various operations.

When the UE is served with EN-DC and is receiving streaming media thatis flowing over a QCI 9 bearer anchored and split at the 5G gNB 20, andthe UE is headed toward cell site 14, the act of determining that the UEis engaged in a streaming media session could be carried out at least inpart through deep packet inspection at one or more points along thebearer.

For instance, an S1-based packet sniffer (e.g., a programmed computingsystem and/or associated logic) disposed at the SGW 32, at the 5G gNB20, and/or in the network path between those entities (among otherpossibilities) could evaluate packets being transmitted on the S1 tunnelof the UE's QCI 9 bearer to determine, based on IP address and portinformation and/or other header and/or payload information that thepackets are part of streaming media from media server 42. Further, thepacket sniffer could also determine an identity of the UE and/or of thebearer. And upon determining through this or another process that the UE(or a UE having the identified bearer) is engaged that streaming mediasession, the packet sniffer could then report that fact to the EMS 40,which the EMS 40.

Further, as the UE is served with EN-DC by the 4G eNB 16 and the 5G gNB20, the act of determining that the UE is headed towardreduced-throughput coverage or otherwise predicting that the UE willexperience a coverage-throughput reduction could be carried out by anyentity or entities that could track the UE's location in correlationwith likely levels of coverage throughput.

Here, the act of determining that the UE is headed towardreduced-throughput coverage or will otherwise experience acoverage-throughput reduction could involve determining that the UE iscurrently served with coverage having first throughput (e.g., first peakdata rate) and that the UE is going to encounter a situation where theUE may transition to coverage that has a second throughput (e.g., secondpeak data rate) that is lower than the first throughput. As noted above,this could be based on evaluations of the frequency bandwidth of thecoverage, such as based on a determination that the UE is moving frombeing served with first coverage that has first frequency bandwidth tobeing served by second coverage that has less second frequency bandwidththat is narrower, and perhaps substantially narrower, than the frequencybandwidth. Alternatively or additionally, this could be based onevaluation of other factors, such as load and the like, perhaps evenwithout the UE moving to a new cell site.

By way of example, in the arrangement discussed above, the MME 36 mighttrack UE handover data over time and use the tracked data as a basis topredict that the UE is soon going to hand over from being served withEN-DC by cell site 12 to being served with 4G-only service by cell site14. For instance, each time a UE handover occurs, the MME might receivesignaling information indicative of the handover, indicating the sourcecell site or access node and the target cell site or access node. Basedon this data, the MME could establish typical path information as atypical pattern of cell sites corresponding with likely movement of UEsover time. And applying this data to the UE at issue, the MME mightdetermine that the UE currently served by cell site 12 with EN-DC issoon going to hand over to being served with 4G-only service by cellsite 14, which in the arrangement discussed above would most likelyinvolve a reduction of the UE's throughput. The MME could then reportthis information to the EMS 40, similarly correlated with UE and/orbearer identification, as an indication or basis to establish that theUE is headed to reduced-throughput coverage.

Alternatively or additionally, the MLS 38 might be involved withtracking geographic location of the UES over time, and that geographiclocation information in association with data related to cell sitecoverage scope could be used similarly as a basis to predict that the UEat issue is likely to soon transition from being served with EN-DC bycell site 12 to being served instead with 4G-only service by cell site14. And the MLS could similarly report this information to the EMS 40 asan indication or basis to establish that the UE is headed toreduced-throughput coverage.

Based on these reports and/or other information establishing that the UEis engaged in a streaming media session and is going to encounterreduced-throughput coverage, the EMS 40 could then responsively triggereither or both of the actions described above, among otherpossibilities.

For example, based on this information, the EMS 40 could engage insignaling to trigger an increase in QoS level of the UE's QCI 9 beareron which the streaming media is flowing to the UE. For instance, the EMS40 could signal to the 4G eNB 16 as the UE's master node in EN-DCservice to trigger this, and/or the EMS 40 could signal to the MME 36 totrigger this.

Without limitation, for example, the EMS 40 could transmit to the 4G eNB16 a signaling message that the 4G eNB 16 will interpret as a directiveor other trigger to invoke an increase in QoS level of the UE's QCI 9bearer. In response, the 4G eNB 16 might then generate and transmit tothe MME 36 a RAB-modification request that requests modification of oneor more QoS attributes of the UE's QCI 9 bearer. For instance, thiscould be a request to increase a priority level of data on the bearerand/or to increase the bearer's QCI level to a level such as QCI 6 orthe like. In response, the MME could then engage in signaling with the5G gNB 20 (e.g., via the 4G eNB 16) and with the SGW 32, to implementthat QoS increase.

This increase of QoS of the UE's bearer on which the UE is receiving thestreaming media could cause the UE's serving access nodes, the 4G eNB 16and 5G gNB 20, to give higher priority to scheduling and transmission ofthe incoming data on that bearer than the access nodes would have givenbefore the increase in QoS of the bearer. And in turn, if and when theUE then does hand over from cell site 12 to cell site 14, the UE'sbearer with that increased level of QoS could be transferred to beanchored at the UE's new serving access node, 4G eNB 24, and so the 4GeNB 24 would likewise give higher priority to scheduling andtransmission of incoming data on that bearer than it would have givenwithout the QoS increase. As a result, this process may help to ensurefull and successful continued transmission of the incoming media contentto the UE even once the UE transitions to be served by thereduced-throughput coverage.

Alternatively or additionally, the EMS 40 could transmit to acore-network entity within the UE's bearer communication path asignaling message that would be interpreted by the entity as a directiveor other trigger to start transcoding to a lower bit rate (e.g., lowerresolution) the media content flowing over the bearer to the UE. Withoutlimitation, in an example implementation, this entity could be the PGW34, the SGW 32, and/or another computing system in place at least tocarry out this operation. Upon receipt of this signaling message, theentity could start to transcode down the bit rate of the media contentflowing over the bearer to the UE.

This transcoding down of media content bit rate could be done in variousways now known or later developed. For example, the entity mightdynamically decode the encoded media content encoded at a first bit rateand then re-encode the media content at a second, lower bit rate.Alternatively, the entity may be able to change one or more otheraspects of the media content en route to the UE to reduce its bit rate.Other examples may be possible as well.

This decrease in bit rate of the media content en route to the UE wouldreduce the quantity of data per unit time flowing to the UE's servingaccess nodes, the 4G eNB 16 and 5G gNB 20, for transmission over the airto the UE. And in turn, if and when the UE then does hand over from cellsite 12 to cell site 14, that reduced data flow could help ensure fulland successful continued transmission of the incoming media content tothe UE even given the throughput constraint.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart depicting an example method that could be carriedout in accordance with the present disclosure to proactively reconfigurecommunication to a UE in anticipation of the UE experiencing acoverage-throughput reduction when the UE is receiving streaming media.As shown in FIG. 2, at block 46, the method includes predicting, whenthe UE is receiving streaming media, that the UE is going to experiencethe coverage-throughput reduction. And at block 48, the method includes,based at least in part on the predicting, proactively increasing a QoSlevel of a bearer through which the UE is receiving the streaming media,the proactively increasing occurring before the UE experiences thecoverage-throughput reduction so that the QoS level is increased by whenthe UE experiences the coverage-throughput reduction.

In line with the discussion above, the act of proactively increasing theQoS level of the bearer through which the UE is receiving the streamingmedia could take various forms. For instance, it could involve engagingin signaling to trigger a QoS modification of the bearer, such astransmitting to an entity a signaling message as a directive or requestto which the entity is configured to respond by itself triggering orcausing the QoS modification. Further, the modification could involvemodifying a QoS parameter of the bearer to increase air-interfacescheduling priority of data flowing on the bearer and/or could involvechanging the QCI of the bearer from a first QCI with a first associatedQoS level to a second QCI with a second associated QoS level higher thanthe first associated QoS level.

Further, as noted above, the increasing of the QoS level could betemporary but could last until at least after the UE has experienced thecoverage-throughput reduction, to help ensure successful transmission ofthe incoming streaming media to the UE once the coverage-throughputreduction occurs.

FIG. 3 is another flow chart depicting an example method that could becarried out in accordance with the present disclosure to proactivelyreconfigure communication to a UE in anticipation of the UE experiencinga coverage-throughput reduction when the UE is receiving streaming mediafrom a media server. As shown in FIG. 3, at block 50, the methodincludes predicting, when the UE is receiving streaming media from amedia server, that the UE is going to experience the coverage-throughputreduction. And at block 52, the method includes, based at least in parton the predicting, proactively initiating transcoding of the streamingmedia to reduce a bit rate of the streaming media as the streaming mediaen route to the UE in a communication path between the media server andthe UE, the initiating occurring before the UE experiences thecoverage-throughput reduction so that the bit rate of the streamingmedia is reduced by when the UE experiences the coverage-throughputreduction.

In line with the discussion above, the act of proactively initiating thetranscoding of the streaming media to reduce a bit rate of the streamingmedia as the streaming media en route to the UE in a communication pathbetween the media server and the UE could involve signaling (e.g.,through a network communication interface) to an intermediary or otherentity of a bearer over which the streaming media flows to the UE, tocause the entity to start transcoding down the bit rate of the streamingmedia as the streaming media flows along that communication path. Forinstance, the entity could be a core-network gateway serving the UE(e.g., a PGW or other such core-network gateway involved with the UE'sbearer), and the signaling could involve transmitting to the entity asignaling message as a directive or request to which the entity isconfigured to respond by starting the transcoding.

Further, as noted above, the transcoding of the streaming media en routeto the UE could be temporary but could last until at least after the UEhas experienced the coverage-throughput reduction, to help ensuresuccessful transmission of the incoming streaming media to the UE oncethe coverage-throughput reduction occurs.

In addition, as discussed above, the UE experiencing thecoverage-throughput reduction in each of these methods could takevarious forms. For instance, it could involve the UE transitioning frombeing served with first coverage that supports up to a first throughputto being served instead with second coverage that supports up to just asecond throughput that is lower than the first throughput. Alternativelyor additionally, it could involve the UE transitioning from being servedwith first coverage having a first frequency bandwidth to being servedinstead with second coverage having a second frequency bandwidthnarrower than the first frequency bandwidth. And still further,alternatively or additionally, it could involve the UE transitioningfrom being served with dual-connectivity (e.g., EN-DC) to being servedinstead with standalone connectivity (e.g., 4G-only or 5G-only). Otherscenarios are possible as well.

Further, as discussed above, the act of predicting, when the UE isreceiving streaming media, that the UE is going to experience thecoverage-throughput reduction in each of these methods could involve (i)determining that the UE is engaged in a streaming media session in whichthe UE is receiving streaming media and (ii) determining that the UE isgoing to experience the coverage-throughput reduction.

FIG. 4 is next a simplified block diagram of an example computing systemthat could carry out various features as described herein. As suggestedabove, this computing system could implemented by one or more entitiesin an example system such as that shown in FIG. 1 for instance. By wayof example, aspects of the computing system could be provided by the EMS40 and/or one or more of the access nodes, among other possibilities.

As shown in FIG. 4, the computing system includes at least one networkcommunication interface 54, at least one processing unit 56, and atleast one non-transitory data storage 58, which could be integrated orcommunicatively linked together by a system bus, network, or otherconnection mechanism 60.

The at least one network communication interface 54 could comprise awired or wireless network communication module, such as an Ethernetinterface, through which the computing system can communicate with otherentities. And the at least one processing unit 56 could comprise one ormore processors (e.g., one or more general purpose processors and/orspecialized processors), such as one or more microprocessors orspecialized processors.

The at least one non-transitory data storage 58 could comprise one ormore volatile and/or non-volatile storage components, such as magnetic,optical, or flash storage media. And as further shown, the data storagecould hold, store, encode, or otherwise embody program instructions 62.In a representative implementation, those program instructions 62 couldbe executable by the at least one processing unit 56 to carry outvarious features described herein such as those described with respectto FIGS. 2 and/or 3 for instance.

Finally, FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram of an example access nodethat could be operable in accordance with the present disclosure. Asshown, the example access node includes a wireless communicationinterface 64 through which to engage in communication with UEs served bythe access node, a network communication interface 66 through which toengage in communication with other access nodes and with various networkinfrastructure, and a controller 68 configured to cause the access nodeto carry out various access node operations described herein. And asshown, these components being integrated or communicatively linkedtogether by a system bus, network, or other connection mechanism 70.

In an example implementation, the wireless communication interface 64could include a transceiver configured to serve UEs in accordance withone or more RATs such as those noted above, along with a power amplifierand antenna structure that radiates to provide for air interfacecommunication between the access node and served UEs. Further, thenetwork communication interface 66 could comprise a wired or wirelessnetwork communication module, such as an Ethernet interface, throughwhich the access node can communicate with other entities.

The controller 68 could then take various forms, including variouscombinations of hardware, firmware, and software for instance. By way ofexample, the controller could comprise one or more general purposeprocessors (e.g., microprocessors) and/or one or more special purposeprocessors (e.g., application specific integrated circuits), and one ormore non-transitory data storage elements (e.g., magnetic, optical,and/or flash storage). And the data storage could hold programinstructions executable by the processor(s) to carry out various accessnode functions described herein.

It should also be understood that the present disclosure additionallycontemplates at least one non-transitory computer readable medium thatstores, has encoded thereon, or otherwise embodies program instructionsexecutable to carry out such operations as well.

Exemplary embodiments have been described above. Those skilled in theart will understand, however, that changes and modifications may be madeto these embodiments without departing from the true scope and spirit ofthe invention.

We claim:
 1. A method for proactively reconfiguring communication to auser equipment device (UE) in anticipation the UE experiencing acoverage-throughput reduction when the UE is receiving streaming mediafrom a media server, the method comprising: predicting, when the UE isreceiving the streaming media from the media server, that the UE isgoing to experience the coverage-throughput reduction, wherein the UEexperiencing the coverage-throughput reduction comprises the UEtransitioning from being served with dual-connectivity to being servedinstead with standalone connectivity, wherein the dual connectivity isEUTRA-NR Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) in which the UE has concurrentconnections on 4G Long Term Evolution (4G LTE) and 5G New Radio (5G NR),and wherein the standalone connectivity is standalone 4G LTEconnectivity in which the UE has just a 4G LTE connection or standalone5G NR connectivity in which the UE has just a 5G NR connection; andbased at least in part on the predicting, proactively initiatingtranscoding of the streaming media to reduce a bit rate of the streamingmedia en route to the UE in a communication path between the mediaserver and the UE, the initiating occurring before the UE experiencesthe coverage-throughput reduction so that the bit rate of the streamingmedia is reduced by when the UE experiences the coverage-throughputreduction.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the UE experiencing thecoverage-throughput reduction comprises the UE transitioning from beingserved with first coverage that supports up to a first throughput tobeing served instead with second coverage that supports up to just asecond throughput that is lower than the first throughput.
 3. The methodof claim 1, wherein the UE experiencing the coverage-throughputreduction comprises the UE transitioning from being served with firstcoverage having a first frequency bandwidth to being served instead withsecond coverage having a second frequency bandwidth narrower than thefirst frequency bandwidth.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein predicting,when the UE is receiving streaming media, that the UE is going toexperience the coverage-throughput reduction comprises: determining thatthe UE is engaged in a streaming media session in which the UE isreceiving streaming media; and determining that the UE is going toexperience the coverage-throughput reduction.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein proactively initiating the transcoding of the streaming media toreduce the bit rate of the streaming media comprises signaling to anentity of a bearer over which the streaming media flows to the UE, tocause the entity to start transcoding down the bit rate of the streamingmedia.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the entity comprises acore-network gateway serving the UE.
 7. The method of claim 1, whereinthe transcoding of the streaming media en route to the UE is temporarybut lasts until at least after the UE has experienced thecoverage-throughput reduction.
 8. A computing system configured toproactively reconfigure communication to a user equipment device (UE) inanticipation the UE experiencing a coverage-throughput reduction whenthe UE is receiving streaming media, the computing system comprising: atleast one network communication interface; at least one processing unit;at least one non-transitory data storage; and program instructionsstored in the at least one non-transitory data storage and executable bythe at least one processing unit to carry out operations including:predicting, when the UE is receiving the streaming media from the mediaserver, that the UE is going to experience the coverage-throughputreduction, wherein the UE experiencing the coverage-throughput reductioncomprises the UE transitioning from being served with dual-connectivityto being served instead with standalone connectivity, wherein the dualconnectivity is EUTRA-NR Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) in which the UE hasconcurrent connections on 4G Long Term Evolution (4G LTE) and 5G NewRadio (5G NR), and wherein the standalone connectivity is standalone 4GLTE connectivity in which the UE has just a 4G LTE connection orstandalone 5G NR connectivity in which the UE has just a 5G NRconnection, and based at least in part on the predicting, proactivelyinitiating transcoding of the streaming media to reduce a bit rate ofthe streaming media en route to the UE in a communication path betweenthe media server and the UE, the initiating occurring before the UEexperiences the coverage-throughput reduction so that the bit rate ofthe streaming media is reduced by when the UE experiences thecoverage-throughput reduction.
 9. The computing system of claim 8,wherein the UE experiencing the coverage-throughput reduction comprisesthe UE transitioning from being served with first coverage that supportsup to a first throughput to being served instead with second coveragethat supports up to just a second throughput that is lower than thefirst throughput.
 10. The computing system of claim 8, wherein the UEexperiencing the coverage-throughput reduction comprises the UEtransitioning from being served with first coverage having a firstfrequency bandwidth to being served instead with second coverage havinga second frequency bandwidth narrower than the first frequencybandwidth.
 11. The computing system of claim 9, wherein predicting, whenthe UE is receiving streaming media, that the UE is going to experiencethe coverage-throughput reduction comprises: determining that the UE isengaged in a streaming media session in which the UE is receivingstreaming media; and determining that the UE is going to experience thecoverage-throughput reduction.
 12. The computing system of claim 9,wherein proactively initiating the transcoding of the streaming media toreduce the bit rate of the streaming media comprises signaling through anetwork communication interface of the at least one networkcommunication, to an entity of a bearer over which the streaming mediaflows to the UE, to cause the entity to start transcoding down the bitrate of the streaming media.
 13. The computing system of claim 9,wherein the entity comprises a core-network gateway serving the UE. 14.The computing system of claim 9, wherein the transcoding of thestreaming media en route to the UE is temporary but lasts until at leastafter the UE has experienced the coverage-throughput reduction.
 15. Atleast one non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying programinstructions executable by at least one processing unit to carry outoperations including: predicting, when a user equipment device (UE) isreceiving streaming media, that the UE is going to experience acoverage-throughput reduction, wherein the UE experiencing thecoverage-throughput reduction comprises the UE transitioning from beingserved with dual-connectivity to being served instead with standaloneconnectivity, wherein the dual connectivity is EUTRA-NR DualConnectivity (EN-DC) in which the UE has concurrent connections on 4GLong Term Evolution (4G LTE) and 5G New Radio (5G NR), and wherein thestandalone connectivity is standalone 4G LTE connectivity in which theUE has just a 4G LTE connection or standalone 5G NR connectivity inwhich the UE has just a 5G NR connection, and based at least in part onthe predicting, proactively initiating transcoding of the streamingmedia to reduce a bit rate of the streaming media en route to the UE ina communication path between the media server and the UE, the initiatingoccurring before the UE experiences the coverage-throughput reduction sothat the bit rate of the streaming media is reduced by when the UEexperiences the coverage-throughput reduction.
 16. The at least onenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the UEexperiencing the coverage-throughput reduction comprises the UEtransitioning from being served with dual-connectivity to being servedinstead with standalone connectivity.
 17. The at least onenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein proactivelyinitiating the transcoding of the streaming media to reduce the bit rateof the streaming media comprises signaling to an entity of a bearer overwhich the streaming media flows to the UE, to cause the entity to starttranscoding down the bit rate of the streaming media.